This invention relates to means for storing fuels, particularly volatile engine fuels such as are used in a wide variety of engines, e.g., those in vehicles, e.g., automobiles, trucks, tanks, aircraft, generators, compressors, etc. Particularly, this invention relates to means for holding fuels in vehicles themselves or major storage facilities which reduce the danger of explosion, e.g., when a vehicle is involved in a crash or a facility suffers a catastrophic event.
While great advances have been made in the design and performance of high speed vehicles, particularly in the design and performance of jet aircraft for commercial and military applications, crashes still frequently result in explosions when a fuel tank ruptures and spills its contents. In such cases, the flammable fuel comes in contact with air. Sparks caused by the friction of metal on metal or metal against other surfaces or other heat sources can ignite the fuel and turn an otherwise survivable crash into a deadly inferno.
The explosive combustion of jet fuel is a particular problem with respect to commercial aviation. The survivors of a crash must frequently find an exit from a very large plane under conditions in which pandemonium typically reigns. The time between fuel ignition after crash and substantial or total envelopment of the plane by the resultant flames is all too frequently much too short to allow potential crash survivors to escape. Even if the resulting fire is contained, which is unlikely, the poisonous gases and particulate matter resulting from even a limited fire can take a heavy toll. Recent tests conducted under the auspices of the federal government in which a commercial jet was crashed at a desert test site point up the limitations of today's technology in preventing such results. In those tests a fuel designed to have reduced flammability completely engulfed the plane in a matter of seconds. Accordingly, there remains a long-felt, and as yet unmet, need to improve vehicle safety, particularly aircraft safety, as well as fuel storage safety in general, by reducing the danger of a post-crash or other fuel explosion.